In the Shadow of the Dark Gods
by James Foxhound
Summary: He was supposed to die eight years ago. Yet he lives, in an era of a Dystopia... Left with one question: Why? Dark, slight character death, ShadowXAmy, TailsXOC.
1. Dead thoughts

AN: So, here I go again. Hopefully, this won't end up on indefinite hiatus like my last Sonic fanfic… If you want music to play to set the mood for the intro, I'd suggest 'For What It's Worth' by Buffalo Springfield. Why? It was used in the intro to "Lord of War", which was probably one of the coolest intro sequences I've seen.

* * *

_He was your best friend…_

"_Sonic, help!"_

_Yet he betrayed you._

"_Sorry, kid."_

BANG

**He shot me**

_He was your worst enemy…_

"_Sonic, this is madness!"_

_Yet he became your greatest ally._

"_Why did you help us, Eggman?"_

"_Because Sonic has gone mad."_

**Why?**

_A story of the darkness…_

…_of a hero betrayed._

_A story of the vengeance…_

…_of a hero enraged._

**What happened to the Sonic I knew?**

_The last bastion of hope…_

…_lies in the hands of a two-tailed fox._

**Why me?**

_In Shadows, they wait…_

_In Darkness, they thrive…_

_In Oblivion, they reign…_

**Why me?**

_In the shadow of the Dark Gods…_

…_what can one do but hope?_

**Why me...**


	2. Not dead yet

AN: and so it begins… be forewarned, this is going to be darker than DooM 3. Also, note that the characters have cloths, unlike Sega portrays them. And do I have to add that I don't own any characters except… well, you'll find out next chapter.

Tails couldn't feel anything. _Am I dead?_ He pondered, trying to move. It was obvious he wasn't, as he felt an awful lot of pain. Then he remembered… Sonic had tried to kill him. _Damn that basterd! Damn him to hell!_ He cursed to himself, not daring to open his mouth. He couldn't feel anything but pain… It was slowly dulling to a somewhat uncomfortable feeling, but he couldn't really do anything about it.

"Wake up, Tails."

Tails started to become aware of what was going on around him. He was in some sort of tank… filled with what appeared to be a healing fluid. In front of the tank, of all people, was Eggman, along with Shadow and Amy. _What the? I thought Sonic killed those two…_ Tails wondered. He really couldn't remember much, and as far as he knew, he had been dead… _Wait a second, they look a lot older… Holy shit, how long has it been?_

"You sure he can still move? I mean, it's been eight years… even with that little anti-mental-apathy simulation that you cooked up…"

_EIGHT YEARS?!_

"…please, Shadow, I've been told that enough already. I know it's a bit of a Matrix rip-off, but I had to keep his mind working so he wouldn't be nuts when we woke him up. Plus, it helped make sure that he's mentally an eighteen-year-old, rather than a ten-year-old kid."

Tails slowly clenched and unclenched his fist. _I can still move, at least…_

"Hey, wait a sec, he's awake!" Amy yelled.

"Ivo, we need to get him out of that tank, but there's a bit of a problem. The pump gave out again."

_Who was that?_

"Damn it! Does nothing work in this godforsaken lab?!"

_That was Shadow..._

"Chill, Shadow. Do I need to remind you of the last time you forced something?"

_That was Amy…_

"Oh lord, don't remind me…"

_That was Eggman…_

"You still owe me a new crowbar."

…_But who was that? It's a girl, but it doesn't sound like anyone I know…_

Eggman hit a couple buttons on a nearby console, and the tank started draining. "Thank god the backup pump still works."

Tails felt the liquid slowly drain away. Everything was painful… but that pain slowly subsided. He felt… weird. He looked down at his hand. He no longer had gloves on; the pads on his hands where visible, and his claws had grown out. He was wearing a bodysuit of some sort of stretchy fabric, obviously due to the fact he had been sealed in that tube for eight years and needed some privacy that would grow with him.

"Welcome back."


	3. A Dystopic nation

AN: And we delve into Tails' thoughts on what's happened over the years. This is mostly to catch up on recent happenings; it seemed more natural to do it this way.

* * *

The world has changed so much…

I hardly even recognize it anymore.

After Sonic went crazy, he preceded to steal a large amount of Eggman's technology, reverse-engineer it, and build an empire.

An empire that stands to this day, known simply as the Imperium. At least, that's what Sonic named it.

His 'police' wander the streets, ensuring order and compliance from his subjects.

His solders are not robots, but humans who have undergone such modification that they only take commands from their superiors.

Thankfully, he was stopped. As he took over America, GUN organized an offensive. Everyone who wanted to fight was given a weapon. The Imperium stopped, leaving California the only territory in North America free of its grasp.

Then, three years later, Sonic suddenly disappeared. Nobody can confirm if he's dead, but I have a feeling he isn't. Everyone thought the threat was over, and the Imperium would fall… it didn't. A sentient AI called Inquisitor took over, demanding that the Imperium be considered a nation.

After Sonic shot me, Eggman was able to create enough of a distraction to allow Shadow to teleport me to his one lab that had never been found, and place me in a stabilization tank. It took them a long time, but they managed to figure out a way to heal me. It involved transferring a large amount of chaos energy from a 'false' chaos emerald, but it worked.

I asked what everyone had done over the years I had been out.

Amy fought on the front lines. I always thought of her as a sweet girl with an occasional annoying streak, imagining her with an assault rifle in hand is hard. Supposedly, she was quite the fighter, and intuitive enough to find a way to shut down the Imperium's plasma mortar guns.

Shadow acted as a covert agent for a short time. He helped dozens of people escape the Imperium's cities. When he was found out, he cut a swath of destruction across the Imperium, becoming one hell of a thorn in the side of Sonic.

Eggman switched sides after seeing Sonic kill me. He doesn't want to reveal too much, but he did reveal why he 'switched sides': he'd lost interest in taking over the world a long time ago. All those attempts to take the world over and whatnot were mostly because he had developed a rivalry of sorts with Sonic. A weird rivalry, but a rivalry nonetheless.

Sarah 'Frost' Lock. She's the girl I heard talking with Eggman. Apparently, Eggman has a soft side: when Frost was left at his doorstep, he decided to care for her until he found her parents, which he never did. Damn long time before Sonic came around, she's about my age. She was a willing test subject for one of Eggman's few experiments that could have benefited mankind, involving infusing chaos energy into a creature; the same technique that saved my life. What's strange and somewhat amazing is that she has two tails, like me. She's also fairly skilled with machines, although she's really good at reasoning. I gave her a Rubik's cube that was randomized; she solved it in twenty seconds. But she's also tough and one hell of a good shot. And is she beautiful… She's an artic fox, with a slight sky-blue tint to her fur, probably where she got her nickname 'Frost'. Her long hair is a slightly darker blue, strait-cut with long bangs. Her eyes are an almost unnatural shade of green, getting slightly brighter at the edges… She won't admit it, but Amy thinks she's got a crush on me…

Lately, things have been heating up a bit. GUN can't stand the violations of human rights that are occurring right before their eyes, but they can't do anything about it without mounting a strike on the Imperium, something out of the question at the moment. But resistance groups have been rising up more and more often, and many question how long the Imperium can last.

* * *

AN: Note that I said Sonic disappeared. There's a minute plot hint in here somewhere… Would you kindly look for it? The first person who gives me a review and tells me what I'm hinting at gets a cookie. Here's a hint: it's somewhat mental, and somewhat shocking.


End file.
